Unsurprisingly in recent times there is greater interest in organisations rebuilding trust with all stakeholders. Financial Reporting irregularities, insufficient internal controls, misrepresentation of data, unfair discrimination are just some examples of wrongdoings within Private and Public sector organisations that have splashed across media headlines in the past 12 months. Scandals and reports of wrongdoing are not what stakeholders want to hear. The public perception is not only going to be dismay at the actual wrongdoing but also disillusionment with that organisation as a whole. Reputational damage can take longer to recover from than a dip in profits. Not to mention the next question being “where were the directors?”
Having Speaking Up policies within organisations are ineffective if the culture is not right or if nobody is listening. Having an unhealthy culture may be what leads to the route cause. Strong and healthy organisational cultures can do much to deter wrongdoing in the first instance and if something does go wrong, can ensure that the issue is brought to attention within the organisation and dealt with effectively.
This conference, run by the Corporate Governance Association of Ireland (CGAI) and Chartered Accounants Ireland, is a must attend for executive and non-executive directors, management, auditors and business advisors in order to:
- Understand national and international trends in developing organisational cultures which allow for Speaking Up
- Get first hand insights from a respected whistleblower including the consequences suffered but also the benefits achieved in improving organisational culture.
- Develop an awareness of the legal implications of Speaking Up from both the organisations perspective and the discloser.
- Experience an informed panel discussion on what a healthy organisational culture can do for Speaking Up.
Speaker line-up includes (amongst others): Brendan Howlin TD (Labour Party Leader and Spokesperson on Justice and Northern Ireland, former minister for public expenditure and reform), Dr Tom Clonan (Irish Times Security Analyst, Author and Retired Irish Defence Force Captain), Ros O’Shea (Independent Director, Governance Consultant, Lecturer and Author), as well as insights from a legal expert, experience from a private company representative and a regulator in addition to comments from Shauna Greely (President of Chartered Accountants Ireland), Níall Fitzgerald (Head of Ethics and Governance, Chartered Accountants Ireland) and James Kavanagh (Chairman of CGAI).